There are good ads, great ads, and then there are messages that resonate. Every great advertiser aims for that resonance, but few ever achieve it. You don’t want an ad to be just an ad. You want it to strike a cord from the heavens.

The original master of this craft? Nike.

Somewhere along the way, however, they lost their footing. Over the past five years, for example I’ve watched their stock slide 30%, hit multi-year lows, and lag behind nearly every major index. But lately, I’ve noticed a subtle shift, the kind that makes you pay attention a bit more. It feels like they’re reaching back to what made them great in the first place, ads that resonate.

I can’t say if they’ll sustain it, but right now, it’s hard to miss. If you watch or follow golf or football, the following two ads are only a few weeks apart and hit at that level for many.